Iris Mittenaere, a 24-year-old dentistry student from France becomes the 65th Miss Universe, after Philippines' Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach passed her the crown in an eventful three-hour long pageant held at SM Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay City, Philippines.

Mittenaere bested eighty-five other beauties to covet the title which was last won by France in 1953 (Christiane Martel). Additionally, Iris Mittenaere won it for Europe after fifteen long years, the last winner was Russia's dethroned Miss Universe 2002 Oxana Fedorova. This also marks only the third time that France made it past the Top 5.

Haiti's Racquel Pelissier emerged as the first runner-up, after surprising everyone with her passion and candid answers. Pelissier comes from a country that only placed in the Miss Universe this year, which made her a darkhorse. Colombia's Andrea Tovar, one of the frontrunners, who unexpectedly did not perform as expected during the preliminary competition last January 26th proved that she was sincere and ready to take on the job.

Miss Universe 2016 host home girl Maxine Medina finished as part of the Top 6 along with the representatives from Thailand (Chalita Suansane) and Kenya (Mary Esther Were). Suansane was the lucky thirteenth girl who made it to the next round after winning the fan vote. Law student and considered plus-size for the pageant, Canada's Siera Bearchell made it to the Top 9 together with Mexico's Kristal Silva and USA's Deshauna Barber. They all made the Evening Gown round.

Completing the Top 13 were Brazil (Raissa Santana), Indonesia (Kezia Warouw), Panama (Keitty Drennan) and Peru (Valeria Piazza). Myanmar won Best in National Costume. The new format of Miss Universe 2016 is remarkable, specially considering the story of the candidates and getting to know them a bit more. Women empowerment also marked IMG's second year of handling the pageant as Miss Universe Organization. Watch Iris Mittenaere's coronation here: